Course Detail (Course Description By Faculty)

Health Economics (33350)

This course applies theoretical and empirical tools of microeconomics to the study of health insurance and the healthcare sector. This course will cover a broad range of topics including the demand for healthcare, the design and financing of health insurance, the behavior of non-profit and for-profit hospitals, the role of competition in the healthcare market, the determinants of healthcare spending, the sources of technological change in the healthcare sector, and the effects of government regulations on the healthcare market. We will also study in depth the role of adverse selection and moral hazard in healthcare markets, both theoretically and empirically. The course will briefly discuss healthcare systems around the world and describe socioeconomic disparities in health outcomes in both the United States and around the world. The course will conclude with applications of all of these concepts to recent health care policy debates in the United States.
The recommended prerequisites for this class are 33001 (Microeconomics) and 41000 (Business Statistics).

There is one required textbook, my book “Better Health Economics” (available here: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo208556491.html). If you are unfamiliar with the U.S. healthcare system, then I also encourage you to purchase the “Healthcare Handbook” e-book and read it prior to the start of class (https://www.amazon.com/Health-Care-Handbook-Concise-United-ebook/dp/B0088CMAUU). Any edition is fine. This book is a useful introduction to the U.S. healthcare system, and many of the examples we will discuss in class will be from the U.S. healthcare system. I will also assign *optional* readings most weeks from the “Health Economics” textbook by Jay Bhattacharya, Timothy Hyde, and Peter Tu (https://www.amazon.com/Health-Economics-Jay-Bhattacharya/dp/113702996X). Again, any edition is fine.

Grades will be determined by one of two formulas. If one performs better on the Final Exam than on the Midterm Exam, the midterm will be weighted less. The maximum grade point average for the class will be 3.3, where A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, and F=0.

  • Allow Provisional Grades (For joint degree and non-Booth students only)
  • Early Final Grades (For joint degree and non-Booth students only)
Description and/or course criteria last updated: July 23 2024
SCHEDULE
  • Spring 2025
    Section: 33350-01
    M 1:30 PM-4:30 PM
    Harper Center
    C09
    In-Person Only
  • Spring 2025
    Section: 33350-81
    M 6:00 PM-9:00 PM
    Gleacher Center
    408
    In-Person Only

Health Economics (33350) - Notowidigdo, Matthew>>

This course applies theoretical and empirical tools of microeconomics to the study of health insurance and the healthcare sector. This course will cover a broad range of topics including the demand for healthcare, the design and financing of health insurance, the behavior of non-profit and for-profit hospitals, the role of competition in the healthcare market, the determinants of healthcare spending, the sources of technological change in the healthcare sector, and the effects of government regulations on the healthcare market. We will also study in depth the role of adverse selection and moral hazard in healthcare markets, both theoretically and empirically. The course will briefly discuss healthcare systems around the world and describe socioeconomic disparities in health outcomes in both the United States and around the world. The course will conclude with applications of all of these concepts to recent health care policy debates in the United States.
The recommended prerequisites for this class are 33001 (Microeconomics) and 41000 (Business Statistics).

There is one required textbook, my book “Better Health Economics” (available here: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo208556491.html). If you are unfamiliar with the U.S. healthcare system, then I also encourage you to purchase the “Healthcare Handbook” e-book and read it prior to the start of class (https://www.amazon.com/Health-Care-Handbook-Concise-United-ebook/dp/B0088CMAUU). Any edition is fine. This book is a useful introduction to the U.S. healthcare system, and many of the examples we will discuss in class will be from the U.S. healthcare system. I will also assign *optional* readings most weeks from the “Health Economics” textbook by Jay Bhattacharya, Timothy Hyde, and Peter Tu (https://www.amazon.com/Health-Economics-Jay-Bhattacharya/dp/113702996X). Again, any edition is fine.

Grades will be determined by one of two formulas. If one performs better on the Final Exam than on the Midterm Exam, the midterm will be weighted less. The maximum grade point average for the class will be 3.3, where A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, and F=0.

  • Allow Provisional Grades (For joint degree and non-Booth students only)
  • Early Final Grades (For joint degree and non-Booth students only)
Description and/or course criteria last updated: July 23 2024
SCHEDULE
  • Spring 2025
    Section: 33350-01
    M 1:30 PM-4:30 PM
    Harper Center
    C09
    In-Person Only
  • Spring 2025
    Section: 33350-81
    M 6:00 PM-9:00 PM
    Gleacher Center
    408
    In-Person Only